Clinch (The Underground Book 2) Read Online Free

shuddered to consider how much he’d bet on last night’s fight. Enough to make him sweat with nervousness.
    Her mother thought he was the perfect match. But no way in hell would Katie ever marry such an asshole. Breakfast? Was he so fucking stupid it didn’t occur to him she normally saw patients on Saturday mornings? She’d never gone to breakfast with him or anyone on a Saturday.
    She wanted to kick herself for getting into this situation in the first place. She’d been straddling two worlds, so to speak. The clinic was her life. Helping people was her passion. The fact that she’d ever for one moment thought to mollify her mother by dating this rich asshole made her cringe.
    He’d never been right for her. They had nothing in common. He didn’t even approve of her job.
    She was done. Way past done. She straightened her spine.
    “It seems like maybe I should stay. You’re not thinking clearly. Did you drink too much?”
    A deep voice behind her made her cringe. “It seems to me you should leave like the lady has requested several times, big guy.”
    Leo.
    Great.
    The last thing Katie needed was to explain Leo’s presence to Marshall.
    Marshall twisted to face Leo. “Who the fuck are you?”
    Leo marched across the waiting room until he reached the front door. He didn’t speak until his palm was wrapped around the handle. “I’m a patient. I don’t have to answer that. Do you always harass doctors in the early hours of the morning?”
    Marshall gasped, stomping closer to Leo—a man who was twice his size and had just referred to the skinny, rich asshole as “big guy,” the exact same term Katie had used minutes ago to refer to Leo.
    She fought the urge to laugh. She really did need sleep.
    At least Leo didn’t indicate there was anyone else in the building. Marshall would have a field day with that. He’d tell his parents, and hers too, before lunchtime. And then she’d be read the riot act for the billionth time for taking in strangers in the middle of the night.
    Neither her parents nor his seemed to have any sense of her work at all. She was a physician first and foremost, and her calling to help the underprivileged citizens of Chicago had never been well received, especially by her mother.
    “You don’t look sick,” Marshall retorted. And then he snapped his fingers. “Hey, I recognize you from last night. Did you fight? Are you the guy who won that kick-ass match? Volikov?”
    He twisted to look at Katie again. “Did he get hurt?”
    Leo cleared his throat. “You’ve got me mixed up with someone else, asshole. I didn’t fight anyone last night.”
    It wasn’t a lie. It was Dmitry who had fought in the ring last night, though comparing their physiques, it would be easy to mix them up. Except Dmitry shaved his head.
    She doubted Marshall had paid any attention to Dmitry’s baldness, however.
    “Marshall,” she stepped forward, taking his arm and physically leading him toward the glass front door. “Go. I’m not talking to you anymore this morning. This man’s illness is none of your business.” She shoved Leo’s hand out of the way and opened the front door herself. “Go,” she repeated, pointing outside.
    Unseasonably warm spring air wafted into her clinic.
    Marshall stood his ground. “This isn’t over, Kathryn. Call me when you’re feeling more reasonable. My mother wants to have us over for dinner.”
    “Marshall, there is no ‘us.’ There never was. There’s just you and whatever you want to do to steamroll everyone around you. If I had any doubts, you set me perfectly straight last night.” She pointed outside again, holding the door open wider.
    Leo stood taller. His brow was furrowed tight. If Marshall didn’t get out of her clinic in about two seconds, there was a good chance she was going to have to watch another boxing match. And once was enough.
    Marshall sighed with great exaggeration and stomped out the front door. He spun around when he got outside, his